title: Serodiagnostic tests for tuberculosis: a need for assessment of their operational predictive accuracy and acceptability.
abstract: There have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to develop clinically useful serodiagnostic tests for tuberculosis. Although the large number of published reports clearly show that antibody levels are significantly higher in patients, as a group, than in a control population, little consideration is given to the value of the tests in various operational situations. In this paper we review the criteria generally used to assess the usefulness of a diagnostic test and introduce two new concepts--namely, operational predictive accuracy and operational acceptability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, England.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grange
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laszlo
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial